Blood will out
by SaphireFlame1
Summary: My take on a marriage law fic. Hermione needs a husband, protection and love. A ritual goes horribly wrong, or right and gives Hermione several new attachments that were not expected. / polyandry - EWE - Lemons/Limes - strong language
1. Pro prologue

Dear all.

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to my next story: "Blood will out"  
I have not yet finished the story, but I know where it is going. I will try to update once a month depending on how busy it gets with work and stuff. I hope I can keep it up. Otherwise I hope I can at least get a chapter out every two months.

To start you all off, I will publish the two first finished chapters. :-)

Disclaimer: I do not profit from this story. The characters, songs, movies and all other known references do not belong to me, I just make them dance like my puppets.

Disclaimer 2: This is a polyandry story, so our heroine ends up with more than one man (although reluctantly in the beginning)  
Disclaimer 3: Both Sirius and Regulus are involved.  
Disclaimer 4: My chapters have not been beta'd, if anyone sees any major mistakes, tell me please :D

Final Disclaimer: I will not put a disclaimer in the beginning of every chapter. This is the only one you are getting.

Thank you all dear readers

I hope you like it! I look forward to reading the comments, either bad or good ( Bring it on)

Much thanks,

Saphire.x


	2. Prologue

Prologue

The department of mysteries, fifth year, the battle. Harry had left head over heels, because Sirius was in danger. Hermione could understand Harry's reaction, Sirius was the only family he had left. But still she had a bad feeling about this. It wasn't going to end well. How were they, 15-year-old children, supposed to battle fully grown men and women? How were they ever going to get out of this alive?

And of course, Hermione's feeling was right. It didn't end well. And even though they had expected it to be a trap, they were not in the slightest prepared for the fight on life and death. The death eaters were shooting to kill, at everyone except Harry. One moment they were looking for Sirius and the next they were running for their lives, trying to dodge the spells flying at them and hoping the spells they fired hit their mark.

It was Dolohov that finally brought Hermione down. And though he was silenced, the hex he fired was still dangerous. It felt like a knife went across her body. Hot blood started to soak her t-shirt. The brightest witch of her age fell to the floor and lay there bleeding. She was fighting for consciousness. This was no time to pass out, it was a battle, you couldn't defend yourself when you were out cold. She tried to keep her eyes open, she tried to sit up. But the dizziness hit and black spots started dancing in front of her eyes. Hermione started to grope for her wand, but all she could feel was soft fuzzy fur. She started to panic, she was a sitting duck. What good would her smarts be if she was attacked while unconscious? She could feel the body standing over her in a protective stance. The last thing Hermione heard was a low growl and as drops of blood fell to her cheek and torso, she dropped off into unconsciousness, with a sense of security lingering at the back of her mind.

When she woke up later in the hospital wing, she had tried to recollect what had happened that night at the department of mysteries. Hermione remembered a vague outline of something protecting her. She had tried to recollect her protector, but she couldn't. Her fingers tingled and her belly ached. She tried to move, but dizziness took over and Harry came rushing toward her in tears. He started muttering apologies.  
"Hermione, I really thought you had died. I cannot lose someone else today. I'm so sorry, you were right. We should have warned someone." The tears were streaming down his face. "Please forgive me" Harry whispered.  
"Oh, Harry, it's going to be fine. We're all okay, we survived." Hermione croaked.

That's when the tears really started rolling down Harry's cheeks. "What happened?" Hermione whispered. The news of Sirius Black's death made Hermione brake into tears. It would make healing even more difficult. It was their fault, they should have waited, they should have warned someone, they shouldn't have been in the department of mysteries in the first place.

The scars of that night ran deep and were unlikely to heal.


	3. Chapter One: Stop the wedding (law)

Chapter One: Stop the wedding (law) / I heard it through the grapevine

Tuesday may 2nd 2000

Already two years had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts and wizarding Britain was finally finding its way into this new era. However, the second wizarding war had taken its toll. The population had dwindled rapidly and the ministry saw only one way to replenish it. And so, they acted the only way they knew how, by passing a marriage law. On the second anniversary of the final battle, a missive went out into the papers, announcing the new monstrosity of a law. Hermione was furious. She thought they had sacrificed enough for the wizarding world and she was appalled they would ask this of the remaining witches and wizards. But nevertheless, the brains of the Golden Trio felt she was safe. She had a loving relationship with Ron and she already saw herself settling down with him in the future. The law would just make it happen a lot sooner than she had expected.

**New Ministry Law**

The ministry for magic has announced a new law that will go into immediate effect. The law contains stipulations pertaining to the marriage law that has been passed by the Wizengamot at the beginning of this week.

More about the marriage law and its stipulations on page 4.  
Speculation on pairs that will be formed page 6.

1\. Every eligible man and woman is required to marry  
a. Prisoners in Azkaban are not eligible  
b. The clinically insane are not eligible  
c. Everyone between the ages of 17-70 are bound by this law

2\. People of pure blood are required to marry someone with another blood status  
a. a pre-existing marriage contract between two purebloods will be annulled  
b. couples that have been married less than 5 years and have not produced any children, will be required to seek another match and remarry

3\. Everyone who is subject to the law, must comply to the law by the end of the year  
a. the marriage has to be registered before 30.11.2000 and the involved parties must be bound by 31.12.2000  
b. The ministry reserves the right to decline pairs a licence to marry

4\. A marriage can be overturned if the following are true:  
a. either party is already bound  
b. either party is unable to have children  
c. there is a pre-existing marriage-contract with another partner (exception: stipulation 2 section a)

5\. A married couple has an adjusting period of 6 months, once these six months are over, the couple must get pregnant within the following six months  
a. if either party is barren, the marriage will be annulled  
b. every couple is expected to raise at least 2 children

The dining room at the Burrow was crowded and loud. Everyone had heard the news and everyone was worried about the ramifications the law would have. Hermione sat amidst the boisterous bunch of Weasleys and let the conversations flow around her. She had been dating Ron since the end of the war and she was quite certain she wanted to marry him, have children with him and live happily ever after with him.

The conversation halted for a few minutes when dinner was served. Molly had once again surpassed herself. She made pot roast with a side of cabbage and baked potatoes. And for pudding, she had made treacle tart, apple pie and ice cream. After dinner there were still a few hushed conversations, all pertaining one subject, the bloody law. Hermione had heard it all, seen it all, and since she felt secure in her relationship with Ron, she decided it was time for her to leave. Her cat, Chester, was waiting for his dinner at her apartment.

When Hermione got home, Chester was already waiting for her. She had adopted Chester after Crookshanks had been lost in the war. His name he got from the famous tale of Alice in Wonderland, because he had reminded Hermione so much of the Chestershire cat, with his tiger print and bright purplish eyes. She fed him and then curled up with him on the couch.

Somehow the pressure of her new job as a researcher at the department of mysteries and the announcement of the new law, had wiped her out. Hermione had fallen asleep on the couch, only to be rudely awoken by the floo coming to life and Harry falling out.

"Hermione, Hermione!" Harry shouted in a right panic, "Hermione, where are you? I need to tell you something!"  
"H..mmr…What?" Hermione answered half asleep.  
"Hermione, where are you?" Harry shouted again, while he walked into the living room. "Oh, there you are. I need to talk to you, you just wake up, I'll make us some thee."  
"Fine. " Hermione mumbled, getting op off the couch and stretching her back. She walked into the kitchen and immediately saw that something was wrong with Harry. "Harry, what's wrong? What have you come to talk to me about?"  
"Hermione, I…" Harry stopped and thought about what he was going to say. "Have you read the papers lately?" He asked instead.  
Hermione sighed, "Harry, you know I don't read the papers anymore. They are corrupt and unreliable."  
"I suppose that's true." Harry answered, resigned to the fact that he would have to break her heart and ruin her future. " In today's paper, there was an article speculating about potential couples and pairings."  
"I saw that, yes. But it was written by Rita, so I skipped it." She said. "Was there something interesting in it?"  
"It told the world about Ron's extracurricular activities and the speculation that one of them is pregnant." Harry whispered, his heart heavy with the knowledge that would break Hermione's heart. To say the young woman was shocked, was putting it lightly. For the first few seconds, she had no reaction at all. Harry could see her brain processing the information and piecing it all together.  
"He cheated on me?" She asked with a weak voice. "How could he do this? We were happy." Hermione was on the verge of a break down and she knew it. But her sadness was quickly turning into anger. Minutes later she was filled with a blinding rage and readied herself to apparate back to the Burrow. Harry just let her go, he knew it was something she needed to do on her own, but he would be there in her apartment for when she came back.

Hermione stalked up to the Burrow and flung open the door. Molly bustled into the room looking rather put out. "Hermione, is everything okay?" she asked.  
"No it most certainly is not." She huffed. "Where is he? Where is that lying cheating piece of shit?"  
Molly looked put out and asked: "What? Who?"  
"You know full well who I came here to see." Hermione all but screamed and she started stalking toward the stairs. "RON, YOU PIECE OF DUNG, COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW OR..."she couldn't finish her sentence as Molly shrieked, "Don't you use that sort of language in my house."

Hermione was breathing hard as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Ron walked into the kitchen, looking uncertain. "You bellowed" he tried to joke.  
"HOW COULD YOU RONALD?" Hermione shrieked, her voice rising a few octaves as she was barely holding on to her anger. "We had a good relationship, we were solid. How could you throw it all away for some sleazy little slut?" she was fighting back tears and the last part of her argument came out barely louder than a whisper. "How could you Ronald, you threw everything away." A lone tear ran down her cheek.  
"What are you talking about Hermione?" Ron had to audacity to say. "What in merlin's name has gotten in to you?" Molly tried to reason with Hermione: "Maybe you misunderstood?" But Hermione continued. "You know full well what I'm talking about. Everybody knew, the papers are full of it. One of your quidditch-groupies is pregnant. You cheated on me!" By now the tears were streaming down her face. She had the bad feeling he was going to deny everything. And she was right.  
"You should know better than to believe than stupid Skeeter-woman." Ron started.  
"Oh, so you deny that you have cheated on me?" Hermione shrieked. "You would lie to my face? For once in your life, just tell me the truth." She took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. Ron's face said it all, he looked embarrassed, his ears slowly turning bright red and his face flushing.  
"Well, I can't say that." He whispered looking at his feet. Hermione thought he would be ashamed, but when he looked up, she saw a look of vindication. "It's not my fault. You were always away with your new fancy job, you didn't have time for me, you barely even wanted to touch me. So I looked elsewhere."  
Hermione started to sob, whispering: "How could you Ron, we had something real, something great."  
"NO WE HADN'T!" Ron shouted. "You only ever saw me as someone to educate, you didn't love me, you just wanted to feel smart. Well, guess what, I only stayed with you because I felt sorry for you!" Hermione gasped, but Ron continued without remorse. "You are a bookworm, a know-it-all prude, never wanting to have sex, always with your nose in a book." As he gathered momentum he started speaking louder and louder until he was shouting at her. "YOU ARE A COLD FISH !"  
Suddenly the will to fight left Hermione's body, she was bone-tired. Tears clouded her eyes and she whispered an answer, before leaving hurriedly through the backdoor. "If that's what you think, I'll make it easy for you. Go have your life of famous sex. We are done!"

Hermione ran through the yard towards the apparition-point and made her way back to her flat. She was sobbing hysterically as she entered her home and made her way towards the bedroom where she curled up in a tight ball and cried herself to sleep. Unbeknownst to Hermione, her best friend had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her.

* * *

All the chapter titles will be song titles. I couldn't choose for this chapter, I thought they both fit in a good way. What do you think?

Stop the wedding – Etta James

I heard it through the grapevine- Marvin Gaye

Many thanks, Saphire.x


	4. Chapter two: Old friends for sale

Chapter two: Old friends for sale

Hermione woke up late in the afternoon the next day. Her face was puffy and blotched, she felt like a bludger had hit her multiple times and she had missed a day at work. She changed her clothes, splashed some water in her face and made her way towards the living room so she could write an apologetic note to her boss at the ministry.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she saw a tray filled with breakfast, a pot of tea and a note.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm sorry I will not be there when you wake up, but I had to go to work. I made you breakfast and I wrote to your boss, saying you were sick the rest of the week._

_I hope we'll have a chance to talk tonight. I'll be by around 7!_

_Please don't worry too much, I know we can figure this out, with the law and all._

_Love, H._

The brains of the golden trio had to read the letter four times before she realised what Harry meant. I know we can figure it out, he had said, with the law and all. And that's when the panic set in. Hermione started pacing up and down the living room. How had she not remembered the law. How had she not remembered that she had to be married by the end of the year? She started hyperventilating then. What was she going to do? She didn't want to go to Azkaban, neither was she willing to give up magic and live like a muggle. And then Hermione thought of Ron. How could he do this to her? With every step she took there were more treacherous thoughts forming in her mind, until she just collapsed under the weight of them all and started crying hysterically.

It took the young woman a long time to calm down. Even when she had no tears left and her breathing had slowed, she stayed seated on the floor with her head upon her knees, rocking herself. Chester had come to her and sat at her feet, silently giving his support. The cat was rewarded with absentminded pats. Hermione stayed in the same catatonic position until the floo flared to life again. This shocked her into action. The last time the floo burned, she had gotten the worst news of her life. It wasn't going to happen again. Hermione sprang to her feet and groped for her wand. She stood there in battle stance, waiting for the traveller to reveal himself.

Harry came through the fireplace and stopped in his tracks. A wand was pointed at him and it was attached to a furious looking Hermione. And Harry knew Hermione had a vicious temper when disturbed. "Hermione, it's just me" he started in a voice he knew was soothing.  
"I told you I would come check on you after work." Hermione watched him warily, but she hadn't hexed him yet, which he saw as a good sign, so he continued. "Come on Maya, put the wand down and we'll have a cup of tea, we'll talk." It seemed as if Hermione had just then spotted Harry standing at the end of her wand, she looked slightly alarmed and slowly lowered her wand.  
"I'm sorry Harry, I thought you might be Ron." She said with a trembling voice and it looked like she was ready to burst into tears. "I just can't handle another fight."  
"It's okay, I'm okay." Harry assured her. He walked towards her and pulled her in for a hug. "It's going to be fine, we'll think of something. Or actually, you'll think of something, you always do." He soothed her. "Let's go for that tea now and we'll order in some dinner." Harry herded Hermione into the kitchen and set her down, then he proceeded to make tea. He knew this was the time for him to be silent. He knew Hermione needed to talk about what happened, but he couldn't force her, so he would just have to wait until she started talking. Luckily for him, Hermione didn't wait all that long before she started relaying what had happened the previous night. She was nursing a cup of tea and wouldn't look him in the eye as she spoke, but she was telling him the story, which he thought was a step in the right direction.

"And then," Hermione said with a voice shocked on emotion, "he said I was a prude and that he only stayed with me out of pity and" she blew her nose in a handkerchief and tried to finish between heartbroken sobs "and then he called me a cold fish." Harry listened silently and as the story went on, he felt more and more horrified by what Ron had said. Hermione continued, "I don't know what to do anymore, I'm all alone, I have no one. I have no family, no prospects, no chance of ever meeting the criteria of this law." Harry blanched. He had known Ron would say something stupid and he had known Hermione would overthink the situation, but he hadn't expected her to sink this deep into the black hole this quickly. He needed to console her, she, the one that stuck with him through thick and thin, she who saved him time and time again. She, the sister of his heart.  
"Hermione." He said softly, but she didn't react. "Hermione," he said three more times before he had her attention, "You will always have a family with me. You will never be alone, I will always be there." He paused to watch his words sink in. "I know this is hard, but we'll get through this. Together."

Harry could see his words had touched her, but it seemed like it wasn't enough, so he tried to reinforce the words. "If you want, I can prove it to you." At this Hermione looked up so fast, Harry thought she would get a whiplash.  
"How?" Hermione croaked, looking lost and scared.  
"Well, you know I've been cleaning out Grimmauld Place. I have only just finished Sirius' room, in it I found this book about blood-bonds." He saw Hermione blanch and quickly continued, struggling to get the words out before she could start yelling at him. "Nothing sinister, I assure you. There is absolutely no black magic involved. This blood-bond I'm talking about would create a magical link between us, and thus, as I understand it, make you my sister in every sense of the word through magic." Hermione sat looking at him with her mouth open, to say she looked shocked would be an understatement. "You know Hermione, you don't have to look so shocked, I do read books you know." Harry tried to joke, but quickly added more serious. "I know I cannot replace your mum and dad, but you are my family, you have been my family ever since we fought that troll together. And I think it would be nice to have a sister." He watched her for a long while, not sure if he should say anything more, so he stayed silent.  
"I don't know what to say." Hermione whispered. "I always wanted a brother or sister. I like the idea of being your sister." Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Well, that's settled then. From now on we'll choose our own family."

Harry was going to say something else, but that instant the atmosphere changed. He and Hermione both hopped of their chairs, holding their wands out. The floo had erupted.  
"Maya," Harry whispered, "are you expecting anyone?" Hermione shook her head, but she didn't speak. They had been through a war and they knew they would need all the advantages they had if this was going to turn into a fight. Harry and Hermione crept silently through the kitchen and made their way to the living room.

"Hermione, where are you?" an all too recognizable voice shouted through the apartment. Suddenly Hermione saw red. How dare Ron come here after what he did. How dare he pretend he was still welcome. How dare he disturb her at her home. She stalked loudly into the living room, wand stretched out in front of her, Harry hot on her heals. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here." She punctuated every word, so he would not misunderstand her meaning.  
"I thought we should talk." Ron started and then he blurted: "I think we should get married." Hermione stood there gaping at Ron, Harry had stopped dead in his tracks. Had they heard right? Did Ron just say he wanted to marry Hermione?  
"You what?" Hermione spluttered.  
"I want to get married." Ron said again as he looked at her as if she was dim-witted. "You know, we were always going to end up married, but now with this law it will just happen a little sooner than planned."

All Harry could do was gape at Ron. Had Ron really forgotten what he had said the previous day? Had Ron really thought Hermione would ever forget that? Hermione was not going to take this well, so he shot forward, placing his hand on her wand-arm. He whispered soothing words into her ear and tried to calm her down.

"I will never entertain the idea of marrying you." Hermione said in a deadly calm voice. Harry knew that tone and it didn't bode well for Ron. "How dare you come into my house and pretend everything is fine and dandy. Who do you think you are?"  
"But …" Ron started, but Hermione cut across him.  
"Why do you suddenly want to marry me now, I'm a know-it-all, bookworm prude and a cold fish to boot, don't you remember?" Ron seemed a little taken aback by her dismissal of him. Apparently he hadn't expected Hermione to say no.  
"You don't want to marry me?" He asked. "Are you marrying someone else then?"  
"No Ronald, I'm just not marrying you. I would rather spend the rest of my days in Azkaban, then marry you." Hermione answered in a cool voice, but Harry could see through the façade and he could feel the tension in Hermione's arm. The energy in the room shifted. Harry could see the cogwheels in Ron's brain working overdrive to process what Hermione had just said. And Harry could also see the anger rising in his friend, this wasn't going to end well.  
"Oh, I'm not good enough for you eh?" Ron said. "You will never find someone willing to marry you. You can rot in Azkaban for all I care." With that, Ron threw some powder into the fire and disappeared.

As soon as Ron had left the room, Hermione's knees buckled and she started sobbing again. Harry didn't know what to do, but he sat himself down next to Hermione and took her in his arms anyway. Harry rocked her softly and whispered soothing words into her hair and he waited for Hermione to get her bearings.  
"I don't want to be alone tonight Harry." Hermione mumbled. Harry didn't want Hermione to be alone either. He picked her up gently and walked her to the bedroom, he laid her down and pulled the covers over her. Then he proceeded to the other side of the bed and got in next to her. Hermione quickly fell asleep holding his hand like a lifeline. And as Harry lay next to her, he pondered the near future. He would show Hermione she was his sister, he would show her she was loved. Above all he would make sure she was safe, even if that meant he had to marry her himself. He would have to explain it all to Luna, his fiancé, but she would understand, she always did. He would be surprised if she didn't already 'know'.

The next morning Hermione and Harry woke with a start. There were sounds coming from the kitchen. The smell of fresh pancakes filled the room and they both slowly made their way into the kitchen, preparing for the worst. When they got to the kitchen, Harry broke into a big smile and hurried towards the little witch that was whistling through her teeth while flipping a pancake.  
"Luna-love," he started, "have I told you lately that I love you ever so very much?" Harry gave her a kiss to her temple and hugged her from behind. Hermione stood there looking at the cosy, perfect picture they made. Harry with the look of adoration in his eyes and Luna with that ever-present sereneness.  
"Good morning Hermione, sit, sit, I'm almost done with the pancakes." Luna said without turning her back and then she added, "Next time you stay with your sister Harry, let me know. I would have come over. I always told you Ron's humperdingles would pain her." Hermione and Harry hid their smiles, Luna always did know what to say.

They ate breakfast in silence, until the owl post came. Hermione had gotten a lot of letters, but there was one in particular that stood out. The angry red envelope was almost buzzing with anticipation, it was Molly Weasley's signature howler, Harry knew. This was not going to be pleasant and indeed it wasn't. Molly had flung every curse word at Hermione she could think off, even stooping so low as to call her a mudblood. When the letter had burned itself up, the trio sat silently at the table, until Luna spoke. "You know Hermione, you could move in with us at Grimmauld Place." Hermione looked at her funny so she continued. "You remember the Ginny debacle, don't you?"

The Ginny debacle was named for an incident at the end of the war. Harry had taken up his relationship with Ginny again. But not long after they had started back up, Ginny had become pushy, never letting him visit with Hermione, never letting him do anything really. She started talking about marriage, trying to convince Harry they needed to get marry as soon as possible, that they had to put this war behind them and start a new life. As it turned out, Ginny had spiked his food with little bits of love-potion to make him more compliant to her advances and she was running out of time. When Harry had come home from a gruelling three days chasing death eaters with the auror-squad, he had come home to a half-naked Ginny. And he had felt nothing at all. No attraction, no love, nothing. He had broken it off with her that evening and she had not taken it well.

She came by at all hours of the day, breaking into his house to lay naked on his bed, crashing his dates with other girls, until one day Harry couldn't take it anymore and just warded his place against her and every other Weasley, because it hadn't only been Ginny that was harassing him, but Molly and Ron too. Harry had met Luna again not long after this happened and they had lived happy together ever since.

"Well," Luna continued, "I think we have the most secure place when it comes to Weasley access. They just cannot get in." She gave one of her loony smiles, her eyes shining with glee. "You should come live with us, you are our family after all." Harry gave his fiancé a besotted smile, she had known all along what he was planning to do.

It was just then the second howler erupted and they heard Ginny's voice screaming at them. "HOW DARE YOU DITCH MY BROTHER FOR MY FIANCE, YOU BACKSTABBING BITCH. HOW DARE YOU COME BETWEEN ME AND HARRY, YOU LITTLE MUDBLOOD SLUT! YOU WILL NEVER MARRY, I WILL MAKE SURE OF THAT, YOU WILL DIE ALONE IN AZKABAN! YOU FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD WHORE!" the letter hadn't finished shouting, but Hermione had silenced it with a wave of her wand. She had had enough of the verbal abuse. When she had calmed down a little, she said to Harry and Luna: "I think I will take you up on that offer. I don't think I can take the constant visits and howlers." Hermione smiled a tight smile and added: "I will go pack, we can leave in a minute."

* * *

Dear readers, 

I Chose Old Friends 4 Sale by Prince.  
Once again I had difficulty choosing a song title for this chapter, here are the other possibilities:

\- Long black veil – Johnny Cash  
\- Friend of mine – Lily allen  
\- I heard it through the grapevine- marvin gaye

Have fun reading.

See you next month!

Saphire.x


	5. Chapter Three: And now we are family

Chapter three: And now we are family 

Hermione started packing her things and decided to just move everything out at once. She would most likely never be back here. This place held memories of Ron, of their time together and the memories hurt too much to face. She waved her wand in several intricate movements and her possessions started neatly stacking themselves in the boxes the girl had conjured.

As her things were packing themselves, Hermione replayed the memories of the previous couple of days. Harry had said they were family, he even had a way of making it happen. And then it hit. The Library at Grimmauld place. That was perfect. Maybe there was an answer in there somewhere. Maybe she could find a solution to this marriage-law-problem. Calmer than she had been in a long time, Hermione shrank the boxes that held her life and made her way back to the kitchen.  
"I'm ready," Hermione announced to her family. "Let's go home." It felt right saying that, home, family. This would be a fresh start. Luna and Harry left first through the floo so they could give Hermione a minute to say goodbye to her old life.

Life at Grimmauld place settled into a quiet routine quite easily. Every morning Hermione would wake up to the smells of a delicious breakfast, Luna would be cooking in the kitchen while talking to Chester and Harry would watch his witch with a lovesick look in his eyes. Once Hermione would get down stairs, a piping hot cup of coffee would be waiting for her and after a hearty breakfast, she and Harry would leave for the ministry together. Luna had taken over for her father as the editor of the Quibbler and worked mostly from home. Unless there had been a sighting of the crumple-horned snorkack in the neighbourhood or she had a staff meeting with her journalists, then she would venture out in the world. Harry on the other hand had chosen a career as an auror. He had always wanted to contribute to society and in this way he could.

Today however was different. Today Harry and Luna were waiting for Hermione to have a talk. It could not be anything worse than the last three weeks of verbal abuse by the Weasleys had been, but Hermione still blanched at the serious faces she saw at the breakfast table.  
"Hermione, I think it's time we made this official, don't you think?" Harry said with a smile, immediately getting his sister out of her spiralling thoughts. "I think you should take the weekend off so we can do the ritual I told you about." A small smile played at his lips. He was not doing it all out of altruistic motives. He wanted Hermione to be happy and feel loved, but he also wanted to make sure she was protected. As an auror he had heard a lot of talk lately of questionable wizards wanting to snare his sister into marriage. "So, what do you think, are you ready to become my sister in all but blood?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. As she sat down at the table, Luna poured her a perfect cup of coffee, black with just a small spoon of sugar. Luna smiled encouraging at the witch as she handed her the much-needed coffee.  
"I would be delighted" Hermione said. "I just need to clear it with my boss. I think I would still need to go into work on Saturday morning, but apart from that I'm all yours."

It was Luna who had first suggested the ritual to Harry. It was essentially a magical adoption, but she had altered it a bit for the purpose it would be serving. Harry remembered fondly when she came to him with it.  
"Harry," she had said in her faraway voice. "There is a disturbance in your blimping pufferpots. Are you worrying about Hermione again?" Harry had laughed at that, Luna had always known how to cheer him up. "I know just the thing to get them back in order," she added with a finality in her voice. "We'll just make her part of your family." The boy-who-lived had blanched at that.  
"How? What?" he had stammered.  
"Well, Hermione is your sister, so I was looking for ways to induct her in the family, you know, get her some protection. The Black library was helpful as always and gave me this book on blood magic." Harry's mouth had hit the floor at that statement.  
"Luna-love, blood magic is not the sort of thing Hermione would agree to, it's a little too dark." Luna had laughed a tinkling laugh at that statement.  
"Harry dear, it's just a magical adoption, they use it all the time with orphans and adopted children, there's nothing dark about it. Most of the blood magic in this book isn't exactly dark, it's just used wrong." And as an afterthought she added: "You can tell Hermione and I will make all the necessary preparations."

Luna had done everything she had said she would do and more. She had adapted the ritual so that instead of adopting Hermione as a progeny, she would become his sister. The fair-haired witch had prepared the potion and the spell in great detail, so that Hermione could look over them if she so wished. Everything was set for the ritual, all they needed now was for Hermione to arrive. Harry had only once felt as giddy as he did now and that was when Luna had agreed to marry him. He would have a sister before the day was done.

Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place around lunchtime. She looked a bit frazzled, but when Harry asked what had happened, all Hermione would say was: "Oh, just work being work, Harry, nothing for you to worry about." They ate a delicious lunch that Luna had prepared and talked over the ritual and how it was supposed to happen.  
"Hermione, I prepared all the information for you to go through, so you can feel comfortable about the ritual too," Luna had blurted out in the middle of the conversation. Hermione looked at her incredulously. "You look a bit nervous, is all," Luna went on. "I have prepared the background and included some history in it too," Luna said while pointing to a brown envelope at the end of the table. "Blood Magic wasn't always considered dark you know." Luna had looked Hermione in the eye and then just continued eating as if she hadn't said anything at all. Hermione wanted nothing more than to go through the research, because the Ravenclaw witch would have been at least as thorough as she herself would have been.  
"I will clear the table, while Harry cleans the dishes. You have until nightfall to read though all the information. The ritual is best preformed at sunset." Luna had said when they had eaten their fill.

Hermione took the file Luna had prepared for her and retreated to the library. Her job as an unspeakable had taught her a great many things. For example, that love really was the most powerful force on earth, but it was also the most uncontrollable. Or that dark magic didn't actually exist. It had more to do with the intent of the caster than anything. But Gryffindor's golden girl still had trouble with the use of blood magic. Because it used the witch's or wizard's essence to make the spell or potion stronger and more binding. Hermione could only hope that her worries would be assuaged by the file Luna had put together, because one way or another, she would have to go through with this ritual. Both she and Harry needed it.

The first few pages of the file outlined the ritual that they were about to perform. At the base of the ritual was a potion, made of the blood of the parties involved. In this case that would be Harry's and hers. That blood would be mixed with a couple of different binding agents and some significant herbs and flowers. The potion was then blessed by a priestess, Hermione supposed that role was to be played by Luna and after that the participating parties would drink it. The ritual was followed with a chant, but in the end, everything had to do with the intent of the casters. If the intent was pure, the magic would take hold and the ritual would succeed, if not, nothing would happen. The rest of the pages in the bundle outlined the history of the ritual and the changes Luna had made to the ritual. It went on to explain the importance of intent in every part of the ritual and explained away Hermione's fears regarding the grey areas that blood magic was to her. After reading through the ritual thoroughly a couple of times to make sure she hadn't missed anything, Hermione was pretty sure she could participate in this. She understood the magic involved and it was not dark at all, so she felt it wouldn't compromise her integrity. She made a note for herself to ask Luna for the book on blood magic later, so she could really get into the subject. Maybe she could find a solution to her current marriage-problem in there, but as the sun started setting in the sky, Hermione let the though slip from her mind as nerves took over.

Luna had given Hermione and Harry the job of cleansing themselves with special potions and ointments, to make the ritual more powerful and the magic more agreeable. Hermione had immediately objected: "You think the magic will object, you think this will not work!" But Luna had remained her calm smiling self as she replied.  
"Hermione, I just want the blessing of the old ones. The ritual would succeed without their blessing, but it would be so much better if we had them on our side. You will see." She had smiled her all-knowing smile then, it had never ceased to infuriate the golden girl, and it did so this time as well.  
"Just go wash up Sis," Harry had intervened. "We don't want to be late now do we?"

It was time. The sun was setting. Luna had prepared the guarding circle to protect both herself and Harry and Hermione from the magic and she was ready to start the ritual. She looked at Harry and said: "Brother of the house of Potter, do you accept Hermione Granger as your sister, in both magic and blood?" She took his hand while he answered in the affirmative and nicked his palm with an obsidian blade. His blood dropped into the cup standing underneath it. Next Luna looked over to Hermione and motioned her forward. "Hermione Granger, do you accept a place in the house of Potter, as a sister to Harry James Potter, in both magic and blood?"  
"Oh, of course I do." Hermione whispered as Luna cut her palm the exact same way she had Harry's not moments before. Luna began stirring Hermione's and Harry's blood together in the cup, while whispering a blessing and adding certain herbs. She finished the chant and gave the cup over to Harry.  
"The head of house Potter will now drink this blood to invoke the bond, the bond will never be broken, as of now you are siblings by blood and by magic." Luna intoned in a grave voice. Harry took a sip of the cup and passed it to Hermione, while Luna repeated a similar sentence again and Hermione also took sip. As soon as she swallowed, the magic began to thicken and swirl in the air. Acting pure on instinct, Hermione grabbed Harry's injured hand with her bleeding one and squeezed. A jolt of magic zinged between them. Hermione felt as if a string was being tied between herself and Harry, a string impossible to break, to tear apart, to cut. So that was what a magical bond felt like, she thought. Hermione squeezed Harry's hand once and then gently let go of it, but as she let it drop, something started happening.

Her magic started gathering around her, swirling around her in arches of bold colours. She started hyperventilating.  
"What is happening?" she shouted at Luna and Harry, who looked at her with both fear and curiosity in their eyes. Hermione could feel her magic cast out another string, and another and one more. Three strings were travelling with the speed of light away from her, only to be pulled taut and snapped back. As the magic strings snapped into place and the magic bloomed, Hermione became overwhelmed by it and fell into a dead faint.

**_Meanwhile in the department of mysteries_**

The department of mysteries prided itself on looking empty while bustling with life and workers and tonight was no different. There were several different studies going on, one of which focussed on 'The Veil Room'. The Veil had always been fascinating to wizards of any kind. They studied it, tried to collect information on it, but it didn't seem to matter, they didn't seem to be able to learn anything from it. And every once in a while, there was something extraordinary that happened in the room. Like the night The Veil ate Sirius Black. Did that mean he was dead? Did he move on to another world? Did he move on to the afterlife? Was he floating in nothingness? Nobody knew, and it was killing the Unspeakables working there.

But this night, would be a night to remember. This night would go down into the research journals and probably even in the history books as the night three wizards fell out of the veil and into life. The night life was given back, instead of taken away.

Two Unspeakables were trying to get some measurements of the waviness of the veil, for a lack of a better word, that covered the archway in the middle of the room. It always seemed to move to the rhythm of an unnoticeable breeze. Floating in and out in a rhythm that was unrecognizable for any creature on earth. Suddenly however, the pattern changed, and The Veil started to shimmer, and the curtain blew away with a forcible wind and sort of spat out three distinctly human forms. They tried to get up frantically, but only seemed to be able to push themselves up into sitting position. It was as if they were afraid of what would come next. The curtain started to move again to the unnoticeable breeze and another figure stepped out and intoned in a deep, booming voice: "For this night, two ancient houses get a second chance at life, for this night two noble houses were resurrected, forget not who gave you this life, forget not who can take it away. You will protect her, love her, care for her, you will be bound by the blood coursing through your veins, if you should fail these tasks, your freedoms will be taken away." The figure waited for each of the figures on the ground to answer with an affirmative nod to signal that they understood and then disappeared between the curtain of The Veil once more. The three figures on the floor slumped back and fell into a restorative sleep.

The two Unspeakables in the room who had been recording everything furiously, suddenly dropped their quills and ran towards the slumped men to study them and to bring them toward the medical ward where they could get some help. 

* * *

The Chapter title this time: We Are Family by Sister Sledge. I do not think this could have been any more perfect.

Have a good read,

Saphire.x


	6. Chapter four: And the world spins madly

Chapter four: And the world spins madly on

Hermione was hearing all sorts of voices around her, shouting, whispering, prodding. They didn't all sound friendly and they didn't all sound as if they had her best interests at heart. She was trying to open her eyes, but her lids felt heavy. What the hell had happened? We were just completing a magical adoption. Hermione's thoughts were fuzzy around what happened last night, she tried to croak a question, but nothing came out, only a puff of air.

"Hermione are you okay?" She recognized the voice of her brother Harry. Weird, now he was actually her brother and not just because they chose it. Hermione tried again.  
"What…happened?" she choked out. "Why do I feel like a bus ran me over, twice?"

Harry handed her a glass of ice-cold water with a straw in it so she could get rid of the scratch in her throat. He then helped Hermione sit up in the bed. He fluffed her pillow, so she wouldn't have to work so hard to keep looking at him and Luna while they spoke.  
"I have absolutely no clue what happened, sis", Harry started. "I only know that it was scary as hell and it seemed connected to the blood ritual somehow." He took off his glasses and started cleaning them with his sweater. "At one time you yelled something about three strings, but I don't know. Luna is researching it though, so we'll know soon enough." Harry sighed and looked at Hermione with concern. "One good thing did come of this you know. You are now officially listed as my sister. I had to register you as Hermione Potter here at Saint Mungo's." There was a big grin on his face when he said this, and he looked at Hermione expectantly. He could only hope she felt as happy about being family as he did.

Hermione's face blossomed in a smile. "I'm glad it worked, because I don't think I would attempt that again any time soon." She said with a slight croak in her voice. She added a wink at the end of the statement, just to let Harry know she wasn't mad at him. "Three strings you say?" Hermione already began to ponder the conundrum laid out before her. She tried to feel out her magic and noticed it was barely even there, but what she felt, felt different. Hermione could barely contain a gasp.  
"What is it?" Harry asked worriedly. "Are you in any pain? Do I need to call a mediwitch?" Hermione heaved a little sigh and croaked out an answer.  
"I'm fine Harry. I was just getting a feel for my magic. It seems to have changed and it has all but disappeared." Her brother gently patted her on the shoulder.  
"I know," he answered her apologetically. "The mediwitch said that was a result of the ritual. Your magic has overtaxed itself doing the bonding. You will need some time to recuperate." He looked at her weirdly for a moment, a small smile playing at his lips. "I was really expecting more fight out of you. But hey, this is perfect, now I can properly take care of my sister." Harry had the audacity to wink at her after that statement, which gave Hermione all the clues she needed. She was in for a treat or a threat with Harry looking after her. If he could joke about things like that, however, then she would be fine. So young woman settled herself back in the pillows and closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep and restful sleep.

**_Meanwhile at the department of mysteries_**

The medical personnel at the department of mysteries had never been so busy. First there had been the case of the disturbing rubber ducky. Then some experiment had resulted in horrible boils and pustules for the whole experimental potions team. Even last week there had been the accident in the time-room, where they had to reverse engineer time to get the desired healing results. And now this. Three people who just happened to be dead, just popped back into life in the death-room. That was not how it was supposed to work. And they were definitely not supposed to be this healthy. It seemed as if the veil had de-aged the three gentlemen and then also returned them to perfect health.

But that was not what the witches and wizards of the medical ward found most disturbing. They had after all signed up at the department of mysteries for the exciting cases and the variation in casework. What they found most annoying was all the spectators that gathered daily. They came to watch the patients. Some came to study them, some came to laugh at them and some came out of sheer curiosity. It was like passers-by not looking away from a train wreck. They all wanted to know of the three people that fell out of the veil.  
"This has got to stop" Healer Abbott muttered to herself. The spectators were preventing her from doing her job and they were downright being rude about it too. She had had enough.  
"Out. Out." She yelled. "Everybody out. If I see even one more person in here who isn't sick or in need of medical attention, I will make sure they need it. And now out, shoo." She made a shooing motion with her arms to reinforce her statement and when that didn't seem to work she whipped out her wand so fast some spectators were likely to come back with a whiplash.  
"I said out, or don't you speak English?" She shouted rudely to a few stragglers. The people who had previously ignored her now quickly made their way outside. And Hannah breathed out a sigh.  
"That's better." She whispered as she turned back to her patients to check them over once again. Healer Abbott started waving her wand over the still form of one Sirius Black, all the while muttering to herself, telling her patients a story.  
"I remember when you were on the run and Harry tried to clear your name, nobody believed him. Of course, that was when the stupid minister was still in charge." The stupid minister was all the reference Fudge ever got these days, never his name, nor his positive attributions, only the stupid minister for all the failings and stupid decisions. The healer turned her back on Sirius while she looked over his results and waved her wand to fill up his intravenous drip. Next she started looking over Regulus.  
"You look remarkably like Sirius. Oh that reminds me, Harry would probably love to know that his godfather is back with the living. I will need to send him an owl." She muttered something unintelligible under her breath and jotted down a few words on a piece of paper.

There was a croak from behind her and Healer Abbott swivelled on her heals and aimed her wand in a flash. When she saw that Professor Snape had awoken and was trying to speak, she lowered her wand and summoned a cup of fresh water.  
"I'm sorry Professor, I'm still a bit jumpy, I hope you understand," Ms Abbott started babbling. "It has been so long since I have seen you, It is quite weird, I attended your funeral you know. I have never had a patient return from the dead before, this is all very new. How are you feeling? Any pain? Can I help you with anything? Call anyone?" She spoke so fast that Snape grabbed her arm and made her jump.  
"What … Did… She … Do … This… Time?" croaked Professor Snape. Hannah Abbott looked at him in alarm.  
"Who professor? Who did what?" The professor sank back in his pillows and tried to think clearly, form the words.  
"You…" It came out as a croak again. He sounded as a frog for Merlin's sake. He tried to clear his throat and coughed. Healer Abbott patted him on the back.  
"It's okay," She shushed, "I'll get you some more water." And she practically flew out of the room.

He looked around, trying to orient himself. Looked at himself, felt his face, looked at his hands as if it was the first time he was seeing them. He moved a finger and was almost giddy with glee. He was alive. Severus schooled his face into an impassive mask. It would not do for people to think he was a little schoolboy caught eating sweets.

Healer Abbott returned and looked at her Professor again. It was remarkable how good he looked for being dead almost two years to the day. She silently handed him his water and stared some more. "Miss Abbott, kindly stop staring," The professor said. "Summon Miss Granger. That little know-it-all meddled with things she did not understand again." He ground out the last sentence and with his hoarse voice it sounded almost like he growled it. "Now!" He snarled.

Healer Abbott looked taken aback, but did not turn away from him this time. She pulled up to her full height and raised her wand.  
"You will listen, and you will listen well," She began. "I have respected you and treated you with nothing but respect, but you will not, under any circumstance get rid of me here. You will lie back and relax and you will shut up." She breathed. "I have already sent a letter to Harry. I'm sure Hermione will come with if she hears Sirius is back from the dead." The Hufflepuff girl turned on her heal and stalked towards her other patients, looking them over once more. And when she noticed that both of them were awake, she turned beet red and mumbled something or other about paperwork and almost ran from the room.  
"Way to scare the chit, Sev," the voice from the bed next to Professor Snape muttered. Severus looked to his left and saw that Regulus was sitting up and smiling at him. He attempted a wave. On his right the professor heard a snigger or was it more of a chortle. He swivelled his head around and came face to face with Sirius Black, his arch nemesis.  
"How are you both here," Severus asked. "What has that blasted girl done now."

Regulus chuckled, "Good to see you too, old friend." He looked at Severus and asked who he was talking about. "You know this woman then?" He drawled. "What could she have possibly done that could have brought back two ancient houses and three people from the dead?"  
Instead of letting Severus answer the question, Sirius took the word with a little smile on his face. "Snivellus is talking about the little swot that befriended my godson, I would imagine," Sirius answered for him. "Hermione always did stick her nose where it doesn't belong." He laughed a little to himself. "If anyone could figure it out, it would be her. Smartest witch I know and that is counting Lily, but don't tell her I said that."

Healer Abbott had rushed from the room an straight into another one. She needed to floo Harry and she needed to do it now. This could no longer wait, it seemed. Hannah tried to calm her frazzled nerves. Even after all this time, the old professor still freaked her out. The fact that the three men had all been dead was was nothing compared to the greasy git's stare and his angry retorts. The Hufflepuff calmed her breathing and walked towards the floo with purpose. Hannah grabbed a handful of floopowder, threw it into the flames and shouted out the address where Harry Potter received his calls. After trying and failing multiple times to reach someone in the weird room, Hannah stepped back out of the flames and tried something else. As most former DA members, she kept her galleon on her at all times. One could never be too careful. She left a message in the numbers and hopes that someone would get back to her soon. As the former Hufflepuff walked back to the sick ward of the department, she mentally prepared herself for the snarky professor and his two companions. She was a badger, she was going to show everyone what happened when you poked a badger.

Healer Abbott stalked back into the room and found the three men glaring and pointing at each other. "Oi," she yelled. "What in Merlin's name has happened here?"

* * *

Hi readers,

I'm very sorry for the lateness of this chapter. It's been a very busy few months.  
But here's a late Christmas present for you all!  
Thanks you for reading.

Much love,

Saphire.x


	7. Chapter Five: Sound Asleep

Chapter 5: Sound Asleep 

"Explain," was all the Hufflepuff huffed after hearing that.  
Severus breathed in deeply and cleared his throat. "Well, you see," He did not actually know how to explain to her the events that had expired. "We got to talking about Ms Granger and how that meddlesome fool once again tried her hand at something she had no knowledge of. Then, I postulated that the know-it-all was probably just trying to keep that brainless idiot Potter from going head first into danger, and well it all spiralled from there."  
Hannah looked at the other men in the room: "Next," She said in a tone which made Regulus and Sirius scramble to answer her. When the mediwitch got the whole story, she sighed. "You guys are stuck in the past. It is high time you get over it. You will have to live together for a while, so this needs to stop." She just started to turn towards the door when the bom burst again.  
"What do you mean: We will live together for a while?" Sirius almost shouted.  
Hannah slowly turned around, looking furious. "You do know you came back from the dead and landed yourself in the Department of Mysteries right? You will stay here to be studied, until you can be reinstated by the ministry." When she reached the door, Healer Abbott turned once more: "I called Harry. Something happened to Hermione, but he'll be here as soon as he can."

**_At the infirmary_**

"Sweetheart, you need to rest," Harry almost growled at his sister. He pushed her down gently and tucked the blankets back around her body. "You know what the healer said. You can only come home tonight if you stay in bed. No moving, no reading, no anything. You need to relax."

"Harry, I cannot explain it. Something is tugging at me. I feel like I need to move, like I need to follow the tugging. Please, just, I do not know what is happening," Hermione whispered. She restlessly moved in the bed, as if trying to get comfortable. "I need to follow this tug. It is driving me crazy. Please." Harry looked at his newly acquired sister and sighed. She looked so small in the hospital bed. He knew what he had to do, but she would not like it: "I need to go do something Hermione. You know you cannot come with me. And I will stick you to the bed if I have to. I'll have them sedate you if necessary." She whimpered, wringing her hands and moving around in the sheets. Harry called for a nurse and asked them to sedate her. He knew she would hurt herself if she were to be left alone and she needed to heal. "I'll be back before you wake up sis," he whispered to her as her eyes fluttered shut.

Harry looked at his fiancé and smiled ruefully. "Could you…" He did not even have to finish his sentence befre Luna cut in: "I will stay here and read to her. I brought some books on the ritual so that we could do some research together." She plunked herself down on the seat and took out the books from her bag. "You go on. We'll be here." She smiled her pretty smile, gave a little wink and started reading out loud. "Hermione, I thought I would read you a book on blood bonds so that we could figure out this mess with your magic. It is called 'Bonded by the Bloode'. It was written by …"

Harry turned and walked out the room. Hermione would be in good hands with Luna. She might be a little weird sometimes, but she would take care of his sister. His sister, just thinking about it made him a little giddy. He only wondered why this had happened to her. How could the harmless adoption ritual turn into such a fuck up so quickly. As he apparated to the Ministry of Magic, he tried to think of anything that could explain her magic drain.

**_Department of Mysteries_**

He walked down the halls decked in his muggle clothes and people still stared at him. He was used to it by now, all the curious stares, the people wanting to look at their "saviour". Sometimes they even talked: "Hi mister Potter," they would say or something along the lines of "Head auror Potter, I need a word." He was not on duty though, so he just sent them on their way and quickly made his way to the elevators. He pressed the button for Department of Mysteries and held on for dear life. The lifts still made him a little queasy. If he could just have apparated straight there, but the Deparment was blocked and for good reason. He shuddered as he tried to keep the memories at bay. The memories of that faithful night, the one that set the war in motion. How could he have been so stupid to just jump in feet first and not think about the consequences. He still missed Sirius daily. Harry sighed, at least he had an almost wife and a sister now. He would be fine.

He walked on and reached the medical ward of the Department, knocking hesitantly on Healer Abbott's door. A shouted "Come" could be heard through the door and Harry pushed it open. "Oh, hi Harry. I'm Sorry for being a little short. The gawkers have been awful today. How have you been?" Hannah asked as she lifted her head to look at her visitor. "Do not worry about it Hannah, it's fine." Hannah indicated the chair in front of her cluttered desk and Harry took a seat. "I'm fine, by the way. What's new with you?" He asked her to be polite. He really wanted to know why he was here so that he could get back to Hermione as soon as possible, but that would not be good decorum. "I have been well. Dealing with everything has been tough, but work keep me busy," she gave him a small smile. "I bet you wonder why I called you over here." Hannah left the statement hanging in the air, keeping Harry in suspense a while longer. "Well, I don't really know how to ease you into this one. So I'm just going to come out and say it: Sirius has come back through the veil, together with Regulus Black and Severus Snape." She watched him carefully for any reaction. Her gaze zooming over his face as if it were something she needed to memorise, looking for any sign of distress.

Harry's mind blanked. "What" he stammered. He looked at Healer Abbott and grinned, which turned into a full belly laugh. "That's a good one, Hannah." He continued to laugh, until he noticed her face was serious. "Wait, what do you mean, he came back through the veil." His quick temper was coming to the fore, he got up out of his chair and started pacing. "Wait a minute. The magic drain." He muttered to himself and facepalmed. "Take me to them please." He whispered, dread making his stomach queasy and filling his shoes with lead. This could not possibly be real. He breathed in and out as Healer Abbott opened a door to a screaming match.

The door swung open and hit the wall. Harry and healer Abbott stood in the doorway looking at the scene before them like gaping fish. Hannah whipped out her wand, strode forward and shouted: "WHAT IN THE DEVIL's NAME IS GOING ON HERE?" She pointed her wand to the three men stood in the middle of the room. They were panting hard, barely holding themselves up, pointing wands at each other. The red, green and silver sparks that flew feebly through the room a testament of their weakness, as was their swaying on their feet. The three boys looked like a kid caught stealing from the cookie jar. Their eyes grew wide as saucers and their arms began to tremble. A woosh of breath could be heard as Harry's eyes locked with Sirius'. "Well," Healer Abbott began again. She tapped her wand angrily against her leg. "Did I not tell you gentlemen what would happen if you continued to ignore my wishes." She huffed: "Now. Stand up straight and explain." She pointed her wand to Regulus, who tried to take a step back, but failed miserably almost falling over himself to get away.

"Ms Abbott," He started, panting, exhaustion catching up with him. "It is HEALER Abbott to you boy." The Hufflepuff almost shouted again. As she took in the state of her charges, she reluctantly got to work, continuously muttering about stubborn boys, their awful manners and their reluctant cooperation. She flicked her wand several times, lifting the three gentlemen into their respective beds. "Now. Explain." She pointed again. This time with less fervour behind the gesture.

"Healer Abbott," Regulus continued. "It is not what you think. We were not intentionally fighting. It is just, the pull is getting too strong. We were trying to get to the other side." Hannah blanched. "What do you mean: The pull? The other side?" She wished there was something to read about this, she wished being had come back through the veil before.

"Wait," Harry rushed forward suddenly. "I think I know what happened." He opened his mouth to continue his explanation, but he was cut off by the sneering words of one Severus Snape: "You, an explanation Potter. I do not think so. You cannot even think independently without the know-it-all being there to hold your hand." Healer Abbott looked questioningly at Harry and gestured at him to explain further. "Just ignore him, " She encouraged. "He's just mad that he didn't figure it out for himself."

"Well. Hermione is in St Mungo's. Her magic was severely drained after a ritual we had done." He looked sheepishly around the room. "I think that the ritual might have had bigger consequences than just the one we intended. I mean, it was just a magical adoption of sorts. Luna rewrote the ritual so that Hermione could become my sister as a sort of layer of extra protection against this new law." He breathed heavily. "I needed her to be safe. I did not know this would happen. She is the only one I have left." He sank to his knees with his back against the door and continued breathing heavily. As he looked up to Healer Abbott with pleading eyes, Harry asked: "Is she going to be okay?"

Hannah patted Harry on the head and strode further into the room. "I think she will be fine, but I think it would be beneficial for either her to come here or them to go to her. It might speed up their healing." Unbeknownst to Harry, she had silenced her three charges with a charm. She walked over to Regulus, checked him over and released the charm. A torrent of cursing and screaming could be heard. "How could she be so stupid. What is the matter with you Potter? Were you born with your head up your ass? How could you let this happen?" As he continued screaming, Healer Abbott reapplied the silencing charm and let him rant in silence for a while longer. It did not seem like he noticed. Next, she patted over to Sirius, who lay calm and collected in his bed. She checked him over, forced a couple of restorative draughts down his throat and lifted the silencing charm. The first thing he did, was look over at Harry and grin widely. "Hello son. Long time no see, what did I miss?" He wiggled his eyebrows. Sirius would always be the calmest of the three. Harry gave him a watery smile. "You know what you did was stupid, do you not? How could you not know which magical bonds were in place before undertaking such an oath?" Sirius asked Harry seriously. "You could have killed her out of your selfish desire to protect her. Sirius looked at Harry murderously and made a move to get out of bed. Healer Abbott reacted before he could make a move though and used a sticking charm to keep him in place. As Sirius started cursing her, she silenced him again. "Are they always such a handful I ask you," She wondered out loud. Lastly, she walked over to Severus' bed who lay there stock still and glaring at her. His mouth was closed and formed an ugly sneer and if looks would kill, his would have frosted over hell. Hannah looked him in the eye and chided him gently: "Will you be nice. I will only unsilence you if promise to be at least civil."

His look said it all, but he nodded his head nonetheless. Healer Abbott muttered something under her breath and continued to mutter things as she waved her wand over his body.

In the meantime, Snape looked Harry dead in the eye and spoke only three words: "Where is she?" He emphasised each word and looked at Harry murderously. He was about to repeat himself, when the Gryffindor stood up and walked over. "She's in the hospital. She exhausted her magic and is talking crazy. Something about three extra lines and an itch. It did not really make sense." It seemed as if that answer had all three of the patients shut up at once.

Regulus stopped his angry silent rant, Sirius looked dumbfounded and Severus looked pensive. The latter muttered under his breath. "I hate it when they are right." He took in a deep breath and managed to look at Healer Abbott: "Would you take us to the girl. I think we would feel more comfortable." He sighed. Prince's did not show weakness. He sighed again and dropped further into his pillow. He needed sleep. This was getting to him. He was tired. He muttered something unintelligible once again, trying to make them see that they needed Hermione in this room.

Healer Abbott and Harry looked at each other in confusion. One minute, the three men were firecrackers. Not really bursting at the seams with energy, but at least not moving at a sluggish pace. Hannah frowned. Something weird was going on here. "Harry, I believe it might be beneficial for all the patients if Hermione were brought here. I could look after them together." She inhaled sharply: "Because if what you said is right, and she talked about three extra strings, than these are her extra strings and they will need her to recover too."

* * *

**Dear readers,**

**it's been a while, I know, but here in times of coronavirus and other scary stuff, is another chapter.  
I will try to keep busy with writing, but life has really taken over. I think the proposed quarantines and lockdowns will help with that though. **

**I hope you all are doing well, that you are all safe and sound, and healthy.**

**This chapter's title is Sound Asleep by Blondie. You might think it a little weird, but I thought the psychedellic mess-with-my-head/frame of reference was a good one to start of the new bond that will form. **

**Have a good one and stay safe everyone!**

**X. Saphire.**


	8. Chapter Six: Bring me to life

Chapter 6: Bring me to Life

As the three wizards dropped off into sleep, probably drugged by the clever mediwitch, Harry sank down in a chair. He put his head in his hands and wondered, not for the first time, why everything always seemed to go awry when it concerned him and his brilliant friend… It should be sister now, he should start thinking of her as sister. A small smile appeared on his face and he let out a loud sigh.

Healer Abbott watched him from the corner of her eyes as she gave him some time to make his decision. She did set about making an extra bed. It would not do not to be prepared. Hermione would need all the comfort she could possibly get when dealing with these three for the duration of her healing. She changed the sheets, fluffed the pillows and rolled the bed to the most optimum position between the three other beds. Hannah believed that the equal distance would help them all out, whether they would like it or not. When she was done, she quietly walked to her office and started looking into the sort of bond which could have been created between the quartet, believing that Harry would come look for her when he had made his decision.

A hesitant knock at the door broke the mediwitch's concentration. Hannah looked up to see Harry shuffling from one foot to the other. She spoke: "Have you made a decision concerning Hermione's recovery?" She almost frowned at herself at how cold that sounded, but she was more fascinated by the case than anything. She would rather continue researching if she could as she believed she was getting closer. The answer was close, Hannah could feel it.

Harry looked up at her and nodded: "Yes. I think it would be best to relocate Hermione here as there is more privacy here. Once they are all well enough to travel, we will bring them to my house where they will sit out the rest of their recovery." He looked up at his friend. "I would consider it a great favour if you would continue to be the healer in charge when they leave here. This way, they are cared for by someone I trust and you can continue studying them if you wish." He took a deep breath and looked Healer Abbott straight in the eye, hoping she would agree to his terms. Hannah gave him a hesitant smile. "That would work for me. This is a fascinating case after all. I have already done some research, but once Hermione is doing better, I bet that she would be of great help. Her work here would give her access to much more pertinent information than I can get access to." Harry smiled wide. It seemed like he had a deal. "I will get Hermione ready to travel and bring her here within the hour." He did not wait for a response and walked out the office towards the apparition point in the atrium of the Ministry.

**_At St Mungo's_**

Harry walked quickly through the halls of St Mungo's. He was worried about Hermione, but he knew that she would be in good hands with Luna. He stopped at the door at the sight of his fiancé reading to the sleeping woman.

"… You know Hermione, I do not think this book is going to be of any help. All it talks about is, and I quote: The bond forged by blood will persevere, without a doubt, no matter what. It would be silly of me to assume you have done any sort of blood bonding ritual with any other than Harry. I should ask him if he has done any blood bonding rituals, it might be interesting to see if they had any effect on this situation." Luna paused there for effect, as if waiting for a response from Hermione. "You know, I think you might be right. Maybe we have better luck with Bonded: A practical Guide to Bonds and Their Consequences by Hecate Edgewise. Why one would name one's child Hecate, I will never know, such sacrilege." The blond paused again. She looked up at Harry and gave him a smile. "Look Hermione, Harry is back. I bet he has some news. Why don't you come and explain why you have so many blimping pufferpots." She patted the seat next to her and looked up at him expectantly. Harry gave her a besotted smile, a kiss on the nose and started to explain.

"Well ,you see, apparently our ritual not only linked me and Hermione, but it also brought back Sirius, his brother Regulus and Severus Snape," Harry sighed heavily, he would have time to freak out about this whopper later. Sirius was alive again. He should be happy, but he could not help but feeling guilty that his sister was lying in a hospital bed as a result. "I have no idea what happened. I am fairly certain nothing like this was supposed to happen. How could something like this have happened. Neither of us had any bonds in place, we never dabbled in soul or blood magicks." He looked over to Hermione and gently took her hand. If Harry was not careful his eyes would start to leak, and this was no time to break down. "Hermione, I wish you were awake, I bet you would have a reasonable explanation for this." He sighed again and looked his fiancé in the eye, blinking rapidly to keep away the tears. "We need to move her to the ward where the three men are kept. Healer Abbott believes it might aid in her recovery as her magic seems to be exhausted and she keeps blabbering about three extra strings which I do not feel." He looked towards Hermione once again and stood up. "I'll get the paperwork in order. You just keep doing what you are doing, I bet it calms her." Luna grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "It will be fine, Harry. She will be okay," Luna whispered.

As Harry headed out the door, he could hear Luna take up the conversation with Hermione again as if she were awake and debating a particularly difficult problem with her. "You know, Hermione, I bet this has something to do with blood bonds after all. The three strings, you bringing three people back from the dead, this is all so exciting. We'll get to the bottom of this. Let's start with Edgewise's book, she might have some practical insight into bonds." Harry shook his head, only Luna could boil these life changing events down to words as exciting. He smiled, as long as he had both his girls, he knew everything would turn out right in the end. Luna was right, he thought, they would figure this out.

Harry walked to the reception desk and asked to speak to the witch or wizard in charge. He had put his no-nonsense face on as Luna called it. The face that said: Do not mess with me right now, I am having a really bad day. He snickered internally as he saw the witch, Harry presumed she was some type of nurse, scramble to get the Healer in charge. "This is Healer Chang, our deparment head, Mister Potter," The mediwitch stammered. Harry did a double take. Of course it had to be Cho Chang. He held a sigh.

"I did not know you went into Healer training after the war, Cho. Impressive. Department head at our age!" He smiled at her and held out his hand. "How has life been? It has been quite a while since we last saw each other." He thought back to the war and a shiver ran up his spine. Cho looked at his hand, contemplated the implications for a moment and finally decided it would be best for her to just get it over with and shake it. "Hello Harry. What brings you here?" Harry chuckled this time. "Straight to the point, I see. Well, I guess we did not leave it off on the best of terms before the war, so I can understand that." He ran his hand through his hair as he always did when he was nervous, creating an even bigger mess than it already was. "Well, I need you to discharge my sister. She is being transferred to the medical ward in the Department of Mysteries and will be placed under the care of Healer Abbott." Harry said it as a statement on purpose, looking Cho straight in the eyes and staring her down. He knew the Ravenclaw well enough to know that this was an interesting case that could make her career. Healer Chang gasped. "You know what is wrong with her, don't you?" She asked in a stern tone, pointing a finger at his chest. "You have not told me everything!" Her voice started to raise, and Harry knew she was going to make a scene. "I have not been holding anything back from you. However, I only do what is best for my sister, and I think that Hannah can help figure things out." He looked her straight in the eye and cleared his throat: "You will make this transfer happen. I will be back to sign the papers in half an hour." Harry gave her one more stern look, turned on his heel and walked back out.

Harry walked back to Hermione's room and stopped at the door to look at his fiancé reading to her. He loved Luna so much, he would not know what to do without her. He leant against the doorframe and looked at the two most important people in his life.

"...a bond forged by war is the strongest bond of all. The blood shed during battle forges the bond which cannot be broken by either time or death. Oh, hello Harry, how long have you been back? I was just reading to Hermione about the blood bond forged by war. I think that she might share one with either Severus or Sirius. We should try to find out. I do not think it explains Regulus, however, so we might need to keep looking." Luna turned in her chair and smiled up at him. "Did you take care of the papers, love?" Harry looked at Luna with a besotted smile and took a step into the room. "Cho was really cross, accusing me of keeping information critical to Hermione's health from her. I think she is still angry at how we left things. I seemed a little unprofessional to me. However, I set her straight and I need to sign the paperwork in twenty minutes." He sighed and sat down next to her, taking one of Luna's hands in his and taking Hermione's in his other. "I just wish we knew what we happened. I do not like seeing Hermione like this." He sighed again.

Luna patted Harry's hand and took her book back up. "Well Hermione, it seems like we'll be out of here in no time. I will just keep reading to you in the meantime. Were where we? Oh, right. The blood shed during battle forges the bond which cannot be broken by either time or death. It will grow and fester or grow and bloom. The bond will protect and provide."

A knock at the door stopped Luna in her tracks. Both Harry and Luna looked up to see who was there. Healer Chang looked uncomfortable. Harry quietly chuckled, he very much wanted to see her squirm after the way she presumed that he did not put Hermione's care first. "Are the papers ready?" Harry got up and walked towards her. "Can we move Hermione?" He stopped right in front of Cho and waited for her to stop squirming. He knew he had his game face on, but she had stepped on his toes and he would not have it. Healer Chang cleared her throat and mumbled: "If you would follow me, mister Potter, we could sign the papers in my office and arrange for the transfer."

**_The Department of Mysteries_**

Healer Abbott had jumped feet first into her research after Harry left her office. She was now so far down the rabbit hole that only the wards in the patients' wing could buzz her out. Suddenly all systems were going haywire. Healer Abbott looked up startled at the noise and then raced off to the ward to protect her charges. When she arrived there only seconds later, however, she noticed that nothing was actually wrong. All three of her charges were laying comfortably in bed, still out cold. Their vital signs were relatively strong considering the situation and everything else seemed to be in order as well. Hannah sighed, wiped the sweat of her brow and carefully turned back towards her office. It might just have been a fluke, but it set her on edge. She needed to get to the bottom of this.

Only moments after she arrived back to her office, Harry's head appeared in her fire. "Hannah, are you alright? You look tired." Hannah ran her hand through her hair and answered curtly: "Where have you been Potter, the situation here is getting worse. Can Hermione be moved yet?" She knew she was being curt, but she wanted to get back to her research. "Yes, that is why I called actually. We were trying to move Hermione, using the standard transport, but she did not react well. I was hoping I could maybe floo her directly to you." Suddenly Healer Abbott perked up: "What happened exactly? Did her vital signs go haywire? Did she spike? Something similar happened here. I think it is of the utmost importance that you get her here as quickly as you can. I will open the floo to both you and Luna so that you can bring her through." She waited for Harry to retract his head from the fire and made several complicated wand movements to allow her new guests entry, and then stepped back. Her wand was at the ready, should she need it to step in at any time.

Seconds later Harry and Luna stepped through the fire carrying a comatose Hermione with them. Harry swept her back up in his arms and barrelled through the door in the direction of the patients' ward. As he laid her down on the bed, a deep sigh of contention could be heard from the three males in the room who seemed to do better instantly. Hermione, however, was showing no immediate improvement. Healer Abbott swept in behind him with billowing robes and ran her wand across Hermione's figure several times. She muttered several things to herself and made notes with a quick quotes quill. Finally, when she had gattered all her data, she said: "I believe it is best if we move the beds of the men in a triangle around Hermione's. I think they will heal her best if they are equidistant to her."

* * *

**Hi readers! **

**Here's the next chapter.  
I only had this one half prepared. From now on it's read as I write ;-)  
****I hope you like where it goes!**

**The chapter title this time is Bring me to Life by Evanescence. I thought it was very approriate as Hermione definitely needs to wake up ;-)  
But that's for the next chapter!**

**I hope you are all safe and healthy (And stay that way)  
Have a good read!**

**Saphire.x**


	9. Chapter Seven: I had too much to dream

Chapter 7: I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night

The three men were staring at the new addition to their room. After Hermione had been transported to their room and placed in the middle of their weird triangle, they had slept the healing sleep. They had never felt better, never slept as soundly, and never felt so connected. It seemed like she was calling them home, like she needed their help to heal. She had changed the dynamic. They did not want to fight as much, they did not want to shout insults to each other, they just wanted her to wake up.

While Regulus and Sirius were contemplating their predicament, having already felt the strings connecting their life and magic to the girl, the snarky potions master could not wrap his head around the change. How could this little chit have done this? How did she pull him back from the veil? How did she make him care? He did not care, not about anybody but himself. He tried to sit up a little higher in his bed so that he could look at her better. She did not look good, she looked weak, drained. The sight tugged at his heartstrings and he tried to find the source. His magic was acting up, as if seeing her like this was painful to it. It just would not do to have a bout of accidental magic because this slip of a girl was feeling ill. He just could not understand it. What had she done?

Regulus was dividing his attention between looking at the girl in their midst and watching Severus come to the same conclusion he and Sirius had reached ages ago. The blood ritual between the Potter boy and the girl had somehow called Sirius, Severus and him back from the veil, and bound them to the girl in question. How it had happened, he had no clue, but he believed that Severus would be about to find out. He was watching with rapt interest for the changes in his old friend's face, to see when the shouting would begin. Regulus was watching with such interest that he did not see the changes in the little lady, who was about to wake from slumber.

Sirius, on the other hand, was not looking anywhere at all. He had been replaying the war, both the first and the second, to find a possible explanation for the binding. From the little information he had gleaned from Harry's conversation with Healer Abbott, Harry and Hermione had done some form of magical adoption, effectively making Hermione a Potter. The magical adoption process could, if he was correct, have activated latent bonds already in place. He tried to remember if he had any sort of bond with the girl, apart from the life debt he owed her due to the events that transpired in Harry's third year. Sirius was fairly certain that a life debt could not have caused him, let alone his brother and Severus Snape to be called back from the dead. It must have been something else. He was wracking his brain to find out, but the suddenness of Snape's outburst broke Sirius' train of thought.

"What in the name of Merlin has the know-it-all done this time? Why am I back from the dead and bound to her and these men? Why could she not just leave well enough alone." Severus shouted. Severus could not believe what he found when he examined his magic. Apparently, he was bound to the Granger chit and the Black men. Severus was building up steam. He had so many questions, and nobody seemed willing to provide him any answers. Sirius and Regulus sat idly by, not questioning the strangest occurrence in their lives, as Severus continued to bellow questions at Harry Potter.

The boy stood in the middle of the room looking white as a sheet, staring at his former potions master, wondering what answers he could actually provide. He did not know what had gone wrong. He did not know why this had happened, and he certainly did not know how to explain this to the snarky, shouting man. However, when Snape started to lay insults to his sister, he had had enough and started shouting back. The potions master had no right to judge. He was not there.

As if jolted awake by an electric current, Hermione awoke from sleep. It was neither gentle nor pleasant, and Hermione felt drained. Her mind was spinning. What had happened to her? Why could she not remember anything? She tried to open her eyes, but it was a struggle. As Hermione's eyes opened to slits, light flooded in. She cringed and tried to close her eyes again immediately. Hermione tried to listen to her surroundings to determine where the bright light was coming from. A shouted conversation washed over her.

"And why, oh why, is that meddling little fool located in the middle of our room?" a familiar voice sneered. "Do not dare call my sister a meddling fool. We did what we had to do. You left, you do not know anything about what was happening here." Hermione recognised that voice too. It sounded strained and tired. "Boys, you might want to stop shouting now, I believe Hermione would like to speak now," a melodic voice broke through the shouting.

A hand touched Hermione's and she flinched again. "I have dimmed the lights above your bed, Hermione", the melodic voice stated. "You can open them if you feel up to it." Hermione carefully pried her eyes open and was greeted by Luna's big blue eyes peering into hers. "How are you feeling sweetheart?" A long pause followed, Hermione's mouth opened several times to answer the question, but all she could do was croak. She tried to clear her throat, but it sounded painful. "I will get you some ice for that throat of yours, we'll get you up and speaking in no time. I will get Hannah as well, if you are up to seeing a healer."

Before Hermione could try to answer the question, however, Harry was at her bedside, taking her hand in his. He was muttering all sorts of things, from being sorry for doing this to her, to not knowing how to handle his life without her. Hermione got the feeling that she had missed a lot, but she had just been sleeping, hadn't she? She tried to look around the room discreetly to confirm her suspicions that the potions master was indeed there. She must surely be going mad, to see dead people in the room. She seemed to be at the centre of a triangle of dead men. Hermione was barely listening to Harry anymore. She tried to control her breathing, tried to keep from going under, but black spots had already started to appear in her vision, and she knew it was too late. She heard a shout, men were calling her name, there was a scuffle and rustling of bedlinen, but nothing could be done about the inevitable approaching blackness. The last thought Hermione had was: At least I am lying down this time.

Harry was pushed out of the way by three men rushing to Hermione's bedside. He could not believe his eyes at the speed with which they had moved from their beds to stand at her bedside. He was an onlooker during a strangely intimate moment between the four of them. The men paced around the bed, trying to find the perfect spot, eventually placing themselves in a triangle around her, all touching different parts of her body. While Severus was touching her right hand and forehead, Regulus touched har left hand and left leg, and Sirius had lain his hand on her stomach and right leg. It seemed to both calm Hermione and the three to stand in this position, as their breathing immediately got easier.

Regulus whispered: "Well, this is a strange feeling. My magic has never told me to do something like this before." He looked at Hermione with worry, before sharing a look with Sirius. The latter gave an answering look and whispered back: "I know what you mean. I think my magic knew she was fainting before I even knew she was awake. Her core feels weak. She must have spent a lot of magic to have pulled us all back." Severus just looked on sourly as he continued to touch Hermione's forehead and without a conscious thought stroked the hair out of her eyes gently.

This was the scene Healer Abbott found when she entered the room only minutes later together with Luna. The men were situated in a triangle at Hermione's bedside. Harry was still on the floor, looking dumbstruck, and Hermione appeared once again to be unconscious.

Healer Abbott pushed her way through the men standing around Hermione's bed, looking at them with a determined expression that said: Do not mess with me, I am her healer. The three gave her enough room to work while continuing to touch Hermione in at least one spot. Severus could be seen playing with Hermione's hair, although he would later deny that fact. Regulus had interlaced his fingers with the girl's and Sirius, who was now standing next to his brother, had his hand firmly planted on her upper left thigh. Healer Abbott filed the information away and continued with her examination of Ms Granger. She waved her wand a couple of times and colours started to whirl through the air. She read the different outcomes and eventually sighed. "It seems that Hermione should not have come out of her healing sleep just yet. It was too soon, and her exhaustion caught up with her once again. She will now probably sleep until her magic is completely restored," Hannah looked around the room. Harry seemed relieved that nothing more sinister was going on, but the men surrounding her patient hardly seemed to acknowledge her words. "I think they already know, Hannah," Luna spoke in a soft voice. "They linked with her once she fainted. You should have seen the speed with which they were at her bedside. It was quite frankly a sight to watch. I will give you my memory of the event, if it will help you to discover what is going on between the four of them."

The blond had already pulled her wand and was guiding it towards her temple to pull the memory free of its confines. Healer Abbott stopped her, however. "I believe it is best not to practice too much magic around Hermione. We should do this in the privacy of my office," she guided Luna towards the exist and into the side office she called hers. "Could you include the moments leading up to the event? It might explain why she woke prematurely as well."

After Luna had given Hannah the memory of the events leading up to Hermione's fainting spell, the Healer dived back into her research. She looked at the memory on repeat and could only conclude that a blood bond was at work, maybe even something more sinister. She needed to do some more research as to what exactly was happening, but she was fairly sure records in the ministry would indicate that Hermione Potter was now off the market. Hannah sighed. How she was going to break that news to Harry, she did not know. He had a temper almost as vicious as Hermione when provoked. They protected their friends like fierce badgers. She chuckled at that. They would have done well in Hufflepuff if they had not been so noble. Healer Abbott decided to leave her research for the time being and catch some shut eye. It would not do to not be prepared for the worst.

* * *

**Hi readers!**

**I have a new chapter ready for you.  
I hope you like it.  
**

**I chose the title 'I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night' by The Electric Prunes for this chapter.  
It seems to describe our Heroine's case perfectly.**

**I hope you are all safe and healthy (And stay that way)  
Have a good read!**

**Saphire.x**


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